The tools designed to make our lives easier are not always designed equally for everyone.
For those living with vision impairment, tools like touch screens are becoming more of a hindrance in some places, like self checkout aisles.
Bernard Akuoko was diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa (RP) at age two, and likens it to seeing old school TV static, tunnel vision, and lots of floaters.
“It’s been 24 years of living with RP, and as I got older, it has deteriorated – but I still have some vision,” he said. “I can still see lights, a little bit of details in peoples' faces, hair colour, lines in my hands. I can still see pathways and how to navigate. I’m a long cane user, and that’s for stairs and sidewalks.”
September is Inherited Retinal Disease Awareness Month, and charities such as Fighting Blindness Canada are trying to raise funds for genetic research into these conditions.
The organization is also helping to develop genetic testing, and building awareness for people who live with these inherited conditions.
“The testing provides the opportunity to see what your eye condition is, and what gene it is,” Auoko said. “From there, it’s put into a database of different genetic procedures to test for what kinds of conditions are out there.”
Since each person's genes will be different, testing more people will give researchers more opportunity to learn about these conditions.
Akuoko, an advocacy and awareness worker, said people with vision impairment still face challenges that those without vision problems wouldn't even consider.
“There’s an assumption and expectation that when you live with low vision or blindness that the world is so bad, and people say, 'Oh my gosh, I feel so bad for this person,'” Akuoko said. “When you have those attitudes, it’s a self-fulfilling prophecy. This is something I’ve had since I twas two, and I find it as a blessing, I find it as part of my identity, and I find it is a real way to show that even if you have low vision or blindness, you can still succeed.”
Other challenges include navigating on one’s own, specifically in areas without audible pedestrian signals. Having to rely on traffic noises instead of signals from the crosswalk to know when it’s safe to walk across the street can be a particularly dangerous task.
Touchscreens in public spaces are also a regular challenge.
“Something as simple as a touch screen intercom system, that makes it difficult for me to go see a friend,” Akuoko said. “Once we start making things universally accessible and have these public attitudes, I don’t think blindness will be a barrier.”
The touch screen problems are less about physical buttons having braille printed on them, and more about finding something with the right size print, Akuoko added.
Personal devices and phones tend to have accessibility features like screen readers and voice-to-text built in now.
“There are people who are fully sighted who see a touch screen too and they say they don’t know what to do,” Akuoko said. “If you have something that just spells it out, touch here to continue or to type, then people will say they love it.”
According to Fighting Blindness Canada, there are 1.2 million people in the country living with vision loss.
The organization is running a webinar on Saturday, Sept. 28 for guests to learn more about inherited retinal diseases.
For more information on IRD Awareness Month and Fighting Blindness Canada, click here.
